Clamp and fixture support



Nov. 3, 1959 H. J. HAMMERLY CLAMP AND FIXTURE SUPPORT Filed April 22,1954 INVEN TOR. /-/er-man d Hammer/y,

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United States Patent 6 CLAMP AND FIXTURE SUPPORT Herman J. Hammerly,Plainville, Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporationof New York Application April 22, 1954, Serial No. 424,805

2 Claims. (Cl. 248-339) The present invention relates to an improvedhook and clamp assembly particularly suited for use in connection withenclosed electric busways.

Electric busways including a metal enclosure housing a plurality ofconductors are in extensive use for distributing electricity inindustrial buildings. In a widely used form of busway the housing isformed with a longitudinal slot located in the bottom wall thereof topermit power take off at any desired along the length of the busway. Itis common practice to support collector plugs, trolleys, lamps and thelike from the lower wall of the housing by means of a hookclamped'thereto. In Veitch Patent 2,523,888, dated September 26, 1950,is described and claimed a hook support of this general type.

The present invention provides an improved clamp and support which isreadily attached and detached from the busway without tools, whichreinforces the busway, which is reliable in the support it provides andwhich may be manufactured at low cost.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, and its scope will be pointed out in the appendedclaims. In the drawing Figure l is an eleva'tional view in sectionshowing a clamp and hook embodying my invention ap plied to a busway;Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of Figure 1; Figure3 is the same view as Figure 2 showing the clamp and hook released fromthe busway and Figure 4 is an exploded view in perspective of the clampand hook of my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, I have shown my invention as used inconnection with a busway including an elongated sheet metal housingincluding a top wall 1, side walls 2 and 3, lower side wall extensions 4and 5 and inwardly directed bottom wall flanges 6 and 7, which arespaced to provide an elongated passage 8. The side walls 2 and 3 areindented at 9 and 10 to engage U-shaped sheet insulating supports 11which are positioned at intervals along the busway and recessed toreceive and support trapezoidal conductors 12- which extend lengthwiseof the duct.

As well understood by those skilled in the art, plug or trolleyconnectors extend into the housing through slot 8 and make connectionwith the conductors 12. It is often desirable to support lightingfixtures or tools energized from the busses from the housing. Inaccordance with my invention I provide an improved clamp and hook forsuch support. The hook 15 is preferably a flat sheet metal punchingprovided with a .T-shaped section including a head 16 and an arm 17, thearm being provided with a window 18' to receive a compreswith upturnedflanges 23. These flanges in the assembled position engage the walls ofthe duct to'prevent the duct from spreading and likewise prevent theclamp from rotating while the transverse head '16 engages the innerwalls of flanges 6 and 7. v

It is apparent that the elongated slot and flat cross section of thehook provide a non-rotatable connection between the hook and the clamp22 so that the flanges 23 likewise retain the hook in position.

As seen from Figure 1 the-lower flange 6 includes an outward extension6' which cooperates with the electrical take-01f devices (not shown) forpurposes of polarization. It will be apparent that as a result of thisextension the arm 16 of the hook is not centrally located with respectto the clamp member 22 and that the slot 21 must therefore besubstantially longer thanthe width of the arm 17.

The manner in which the clamp and hook is attached and detached from thebusway is believed to be readily understood from the foregoing detaileddescription but may be further described briefly as follows: With thehook assembled as shown in Figure 1 it is only necessary to move theclamp 22 downwardly until the flanges 23 clear the edges of the housingat which time the hook and clamp may be rotated to the position shown inFigure 3 and removed from the housing. In assemblying the hook on thebusway it is merely necessary to grasp the hook, place the assembly inthe position shown in Figure 3 and push upwardly on the hook until theT-shaped head clears the lower walls 6 and 7 at which time the hook maybe rotated to bring both the hook and clamp into the position shown inFigure 2.

While the construction of the present invention is very simple andinexpensive to manufacture, it is easier to use and more reliable thanany of the prior art devices.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of myinvention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changesand modifications may be made without departing from my invention in itsbroader aspects and my aim therefore in the appended claims is to coverall such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit andscope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A hook and clamp assembly for detachable connection with a bus ductenclosure including inturned flanges at the lower end thereof definingan elongated passage, said assembly including a hook, a clamping memberhaving upturned flanges for engaging the said enclosure at the outerends of said enclosure flanges and provided with an elongated slot, saidhook including an integral transverse head portion for engaging saidinturned flanges within said enclosure and an arm portion non-rotatablyreceived in said slot, said arm having an aperture formed therein, and acompression spring received within said aperture and engaging saidclamping member to urge it toward said head portion.

2. A hook and clamp assembly for detachable connection with a bus ductenclosure including inturned flanges at the lower end thereof definingan elongated passage, said assembly including a uniplanar hook memberconstructed of a single sheet of metal, a clamping memher havingupturned flanges for engaging said enclosure at the outer ends of saidenclosure flanges and provided with an elongated slot slidably receivingsaid uniplanar hook member, said hook member including an integraltransverse head portion for engaging said inturned flanges within saidenclosure andan arm portion non-rotatably received in said slot, saidarm portion having an aperture formed therein and a compression springreceived within said aperture and engaging said clamping member to urgeit toward said head portion. a

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ClarkeApr. 16, Modlin et a1. Aug. 1, Owens Nov. 12, Winder Sept. 29, KuenneFeb. 28, Veitch Sept. 26,

FOREIGN PATENTS Sweden Nov. 21,

Austria Nov. 10,

